New Zealand Weather Extremes

[Onetahuti]

New Zealand Extremes 29/2/12.

Hottest .. Hastings .. 22.9°C
Coldest .. Takapau Plains .. 2.6C
Wettest .. Hokitika .. 17.4mm
Windiest .. Kelburn, Wellington .. 74 km/h

[Onetahuti]

New Zealand Extremes 2/3/12.

Hottest .. Whangarei .. 23.7°C
Coldest .. Timaru .. 1.5C
Wettest .. Farewell Spit .. 20.0mm
Windiest .. New Plymouth .. 70 km/h

[Onetahuti]

New Zealand Extremes 4/3/12.

Hottest .. Tauranga .. 24.8°C
Coldest .. Taupo .. 1.8C
Wettest .. Paraparaumu .. 2.2mm
Windiest .. Kelburn, Wellington .. 81 km/h

[Onetahuti]

New Zealand Extremes 5/3/12.

Hottest .. Roxburgh .. 22.8°C
Coldest .. Taumarunui .. 1.5C
Wettest .. Nelson .. 4.2mm
Windiest .. Kaikoura .. 55 km/h

[Onetahuti]

New Zealand Extremes 6/3/12.

Hottest .. Christchurch .. 26.1°C
Coldest .. Takapau Plains .. 5.6C
Wettest .. Invercargill .. 8.8mm
Windiest .. Wanaka .. 59 km/h

[Onetahuti]

New Zealand Extremes 7/3/12.

Hottest .. Tauranga .. 28.1°C
Coldest .. Taupo .. 3.2C
Wettest .. Whangarei .. 23.2mm
Windiest .. Kelburn, Wellington .. 85 km/h

[Onetahuti]

New Zealand Extremes 8/3/12.

Hottest .. Hokitika .. 24.4°C
Coldest .. Queenstown .. 2.9C
Wettest .. Whangarei .. 9.0mm
Windiest .. New Plymouth .. 85 km/h

[Onetahuti]

New Zealand Extremes 8/3/12.

Hottest .. Tauranga .. 24.0°C
Coldest .. Springs Junction .. 0.3C
Wettest .. Whangarei .. 0.6mm
Windiest .. Farewell Spit .. 57 km/h

[Onetahuti]

New Zealand Extremes 11/3/12.

Hottest .. Palmerston North .. 26.2°C
Coldest .. Invercargill .. 9.2C
Wettest .. Queenstown .. 29.2mm
Windiest .. Kaikoura .. 70 km/h

[Onetahuti]

New Zealand Extremes 12/3/12.

Hottest .. Tauranga .. 23.6°C
Coldest .. Gore .. 6.4C
Wettest .. Paeroa .. 29.2mm
Windiest .. Invercargill .. 69 km/h

[Onetahuti]

New Zealand Extremes 13/3/12.

Hottest .. Tauranga .. 26.7°C
Coldest .. Invercargill .. 4.0C
Wettest .. Kaikoura .. 13.6mm
Windiest .. Paraparaumu .. 65 km/h

[Onetahuti]

New Zealand Extremes 14/3/12.

Hottest .. Ashburton .. 24.0°C
Coldest .. Masterton .. 1.5C
Wettest .. Invercargill .. 0.4mm
Windiest .. Kelburn, Wellington .. 87 km/h

[Onetahuti]

New Zealand Extremes 15/3/12.

Hottest .. Hastings .. 26.9°C
Coldest .. Christchurch .. 5.5C
Wettest .. Invercargill .. 28.8mm
Windiest .. Kelburn, Wellington .. 87 km/h

[Onetahuti]

New Zealand Extremes 15/3/12.

Hottest .. Tauranga .. 23.4°C
Coldest .. Queenstown .. 1.9C
Wettest .. Hastings .. 5.2mm
Windiest .. Palmerston North .. 46 km/h

[Onetahuti]

New Zealand Extremes 18/3/12.

Hottest .. Christchurch .. 27.1°C
Coldest .. Christchurch .. 3.4C
Wettest .. Kerikeri .. 25.2mm
Windiest .. Kelburn, Wellington .. 70 km/h

[Onetahuti]

New Zealand Extremes 19/3/12.

Hottest .. Nelson .. 23.3°C
Coldest .. Invercargill .. 2.2C
Wettest .. Whangarei .. 189.0mm
Windiest .. New Plymouth .. 91 km/h

[Onetahuti]

Another deluge on way for Northland

The wild weather that has lashed the country has left about 2000 properties without power.

A strong wind warning has been issued for Taranaki, Taupo, the Central Plateau, Wellington, Horowhenua and Kapiti Coast areas, with gusts reaching 120km/h over the course of the day.

MetService has also issued a heavy rain warning for Gisborne, Hawke's Bay, and Wairarapa, as the slow moving low continues to move across the country.

Around 2000 properties have lost power, mainly in Taranaki, as trees and branches have come down on lines due to the high winds, Powerco reported.

Operations Manager Phil Marsh said the weather started damaging the network from 1am.

The majority of properties should have their power restored today, however some may remain without electricity overnight.

MORE WET WEATHER ON WAY

Another low is expected to bring to bring more torrential rain to the north of the country tomorrow, Weatherwatch.co.nz warned.

Head weather analyst Philip Duncan said the second low is expected to move much quicker than the one which has stalled over Northland, with the worst of the wind and rain coming over a six hour period, before weakening.

"This secondary low will be small but sharp and could bring in a period of torrential rain and gusty to gale force nor'easters from Bay of Plenty northwards," Mr Duncan said.

"There is potential for slips and flash flooding with this next spell of severe weather along with isolated power cuts due to slips or small branches taking out powerlines".

By Thursday morning the low will lie over Taranaki, before dying out over the upper South Island about midday.

FLIGHTS, VOLVO OCEAN RACE AFFECTED

Meanwhile Air New Zealand flights will again be disrupted today.

A total of 24 return flights had to be cancelled due to Auckland Airport's wet runway and gusty cross winds yesterday.

Four other flights had to be diverted to Wellington, as was a flight from Adelaide.

Air New Zealand says passengers can expect some disruption this morning, as aircraft are repositioned.

And the Volvo Ocean Race yacht Abu Dhabi was last night sheltering in the Hauraki Gulf, waiting for 60-knot conditions to ease before resuming the round-the-world race after being forced to turn back with a damaged bulk head on Sunday evening.

"All we needed was a break from the weather to get us back in the race, the other boats are only 200 miles [320km] away after all, but sadly we have exactly the opposite - the meteorological equivalent of a kick in the guts," said skipper Ian Walker.

NORTHLAND'S RECORD RAINFALL

Fire Service officials rescued several people trapped in cars and homes after parts of Northland were hit by two months' worth of rainfall in two days.

Flooding from yesterday continues to affect Northland.

State Highway One at Hikurangi is open only to trucks as there's new flooding 20km north of Dargaville on State Highway 12 and both lanes are blocked.

Northland Civil Defence spokesman Tony Phipps told Radio New Zealand it "could be a day or two" before flood waters recede.

Mr Phipps said smaller rivers had receded but larger rivers were still at flood levels.
Flood peaks in some areas were comparable to Cyclone Wilma last year, he said.

Mr Phipps said there had been no rescues or evacuations overnight.

State Highway 1 remains closed at Whakapara, north of Whangarei, however several other roads in the region have reopened as flood waters recede.

The Whangarei District Council said contractors are on the district's roads checking for damage, slips, fallen trees, flooding and washouts.

The council warned motorists roads may be greasy, and people should not drive in flood waters.

'SHE'S A LUCKY GIRL'

Meanwhile a Northland woman was "very, very lucky" to be plucked from a raging river after clinging to a tree branch for 20 minutes in floods caused by record-breaking rainfall.

The 61-year-old woman, Kathleen Abbott, was plucked from a river near Otaika, south of Whangarei, yesterday morning.

She had tried to cross a bridge in her car before the river overflowed but became stuck. When she scrambled from her vehicle she was washed downstream by a fast-moving current.

Her neighbour, Dick Pickering, said he used his kayak to reach her, and with the help of a fire crew in an inflatable boat she was pulled to safety.

"She was lucky enough to grab hold of totara tree in the creek, it was going pretty strong. She'd been there for quite a while. She's a very, very lucky girl."

Mr Pickering said Ms Abbott was in a state of shock for the rest of the day.
Shari Pickering, 54, said Ms Abbott was very relieved.

"It was a pretty terrifying ordeal because the current was really really strong."

Of the rescue she said: "'It was a combined effort really, we're just lucky that we had ropes and lifejackets and kayaks for the summer holiday we never had.

"I put a life jacket on and tied a rope and tried to get to her. But the rope was too short and the current was quite strong. So my dad walked down the edge of the fenceline and tied the rope to our kayak and then I went out in the kayak and got her."

Ms Pickering said the rescue took around 20 to 30 minutes.

Further north, the fire brigade rescued a couple and their three year-old child from a Ngunguru home after 1.5m floodwaters threatened to engulf their property.

Firefighter Chris Gibbs said water was creeping up the walls of their home, and the fire brigade had to ferry them in an inflatable boat across 400m of floodwater.

More than 200mm of rain had fallen in parts of Whangarei between midnight Saturday and yesterday morning.

The heavy rain and strong winds caused numerous road closures and felled trees, and schools in the region were also closed for the day.

The low-lying Far North township of Kaeo faced even greater deluges, with 283.5mm of rainfall in the hills above it - twice the normal rainfall for the area for the whole of March.
Roads in and out of the township were closed, and floodwater in the main street rose to a metre deep.

A flood meter by the Kerikeri river showed the current was 3m high near Kaeo - enough to spill over the banks and swamp the state highway but a metre lower than the devastating floods of 2007.


New Zealand herald.

[Onetahuti]

New Zealand Extremes 20/3/12.

Hottest .. Tauranga .. 27.9°C
Coldest .. Invercargill .. 0.8C
Wettest .. Gisborne .. 132.0mm
Windiest .. New Plymouth .. 113 km/h

[Onetahuti]

New Zealand Extremes 21/3/12.

Hottest .. Westport .. 27.3°C
Coldest .. Timaru .. -0.3C
Wettest .. Auckland .. 46.6mm
Windiest .. Paeroa .. 91 km/h

[Onetahuti]

New Zealand Extremes 22/3/12.

Hottest .. Hastings .. 25.4°C
Coldest .. Invercargill .. 5.4C
Wettest .. Farewell Spit .. 28.2mm
Windiest .. Kelburn, Wellington .. 100 km/h